Age of Sail
Age of Sail refers to the era of The Land's history in which sailing ships played an important role in transportation. The era is commonly reckoned as beginning in LY 360, with the founding of the village Ship. However, it would be more accurate to say that it began in 361, when construction of the earliest ships was completed, and the age of exploration by sea truly began. This led to a period of rapid expansion, during which eight more villages- Kurok, Frinn, Toobay, Olek, Pritt, Shipsister, Jump Village, and Tanq were all founded (though the founding of Ship itself is often included in this period). It was during the period of rapid expansion that the first Great Age of Piracy began, in 362, which in turn gave rise to the Coast Guard, which was officially organized in 371. By the end of the 370s, piracy had dwindled, though it never ceased entirely. Over the next five centuries, the majority of sailing would be done by merchant vessels, which were owned by traders and of course, crewed by sailors. Other ships were used as ferries, to transport people and/or vehicles/cargo from one port to another. There would also be infrequent exploratory expeditions, over the years. In 773, the Isle of Freedom was discovered by the First 50 Elves, who founded the village of Woodstockade (though this was as a result of their banishment from the domains of humans, and their discovery would not be learned of by human society until 903). In 850, Midds Land was discovered, and Ristar was founded. In 859, Atlast Land was discovered, and Temporaneous was founded (though it was soon abandoned). In 860, First Ice was discovered, and followed by the discovery of Second Ice in 885. In 884, Rain Isle was discovered, and Port was founded. The founding of Ristar and Port led to the second Great Age of Piracy. While piracy began increasing incrementally throughout the second half of the ninth century, it was not until the dawn of the tenth century, right around LY 900, that the Second Age is reckoned as truly beginning. Around the same time, in 901, The Order secretly began establishing navies in Port and Near Port, in anticipation of dissent to The Plan, which led to the Coming of the Order. The ensuing war saw far more battles at sea (and ocean) than had ever been caused by mere piracy, and led to increased production of sailing ships. While this ultimately resulted in a standing Navy, after the war the majority of sea (and ocean) travel was once again done by merchants. In 912, various pirate ships were organized into a new navy to fight against the Second Order in what became known as the Chaos War. In 913, when the United Villages of the Chaos was established, these former pirates as well as a number of defectors from the Second Order's navy became the Chaos Navy. This meant that there were not only fewer ships operating as pirate vessels, but now in addition to the Second Order's navy and the Coast Guard, the UVC's navy became a third deterrent to piracy. For this reason, the second Great Age of Piracy is sometimes considered to have ended in 912 or 913, even if it hasn't yet quite returned to the lower levels of the period between 380 and 900. In any event, once again sailing has become primarily the province of merchants. While the Age of Sail continues to this day, there are many who claim it may not last much longer, due to speculation about the possible development of steam-powered ships in the near future. See also *Cartography *List of ships *Watercraft classification Category:History